


If cats drown in water do fish drown on land?

by Copyspaghetti



Category: The Amazing World of Gumball
Genre: Incest, Multi, Other, Possessive Behavior, Pregnancy, Suicidal Thoughts, abusive families
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-08-26
Packaged: 2019-03-14 09:09:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13586877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Copyspaghetti/pseuds/Copyspaghetti
Summary: Darwin never reflected over his possessiveness of Gumball until Penny was painted into the picture.





	1. Mum I found a merboy!

The waves swallowed Gumball's sandcastle, causing the kindergartener to cry out in despair. How dared Poseidon challenge his rule over the beach?! He knew Poseidon was that cool dude from the books about Percy his mother read as bedtime stories. Nicole would've sighed at his inability to learn about ancient greece despite her efforts. She'd always dreamt of raising a smart kid, but her son seemed as sense as her husband. 

As Gumball's mother shuddering waded through the water to pick up her child who viciously attacked the water for revenge her yet-to-be-born baby kicked her hard. It was going to be a rough day at the beach. "Come here, Gummy, you know cats aren't supposed to play in water!" She reminded with fake cheer as she tried not to hurl.   
"Because we drown?" The pale boy asked, flapping his ears to air dry them.  
"Exactly." Nicole muttered back, exhaustion seeping through her voice. 

No matter how hard he tried not to bother his mother he couldn't sit still. As soon as her eyes closed for a catnap Gumball was up and running again. This time the water fought back and the flick of a green, shimmering tail splashed his face. "Woah, pretty!" Gumball gasped, awestruck by the glittering scales. Disappearing as soon as it came, the absent tail disappointed him. "No, come back.. don't leave me to play alone!" He whined pitifully, childishly pushing himself to tears to get what he wanted. 

The tail didn't seem to need the guilt of crocodile tears to care for him though. A transparent fin popped out of the water, waving sheepishly before a head with orange curls plastered to it broke the surface. Another little boy was not looking up at Gumball with bright green, nervous eyes. 

Wasting no time gumball grabbed the now screaming boy around the torso, carrying the struggling boy onto the shore before dumping his treasure on his mum's stomach. "Mum! I found a merboy! Let me keep him let me keep him pleeeaaase?"


	2. Plan B

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gumball can't stand a no

Water sprayed in the boy's face at the outrageous idea, causing his ears to twitch from discomfort. The merboy looked unimpressed where he floated, eyes just above the water, seemingly unbothered by the waves splashing in his face.   
"Hey, what's wrong with merging the sea with the land so we can live together?! It's genius!" Gumball exclaimed pushing his torso up from the ground to sit up.   
The merboy only bubbled in response. Ever since he was dragged up on the beach two weeks ago by the hyperactive cat only to be released to sea with a violent throw Gumball had sneaked away to the shore to chat with the merboy. At first he'd been hurt their conversations were a monologue accompanied by bubbling, but quickly understood his voice sounded like bubbles above water as well. Gumball who had taken his shoes off flicked some water at his friend, charmed that he stayed despite not being understood.  
Suddenly his fishy companion dropped his scolding demeanour for a freaked one. Flailing and motioning to turn around didn't get to Gumball who was guessing wildly at the most ridiculous things.   
"Okay buddy you'll have to re-motion tha-" Gumball cut himself off in confusion as the merboy dived, reopening his mouth to screech as he turned to face his approaching mother.   
"Zach Watterson, what are you doing?!" Nicole yelled, grabbing her son's shoulder with an iron grip. In his panic he backed off the edge of the grassy hill they stood on, right into the ocean. Nicole who refused to let go, now from protectiveness rather than rage, yelped as they broke the surface of the cold ocean blue. Disorientation caused her to lose the grip on Gumball who basked in the realization of why mommy warned about water.   
An adult could easily kick against the smooth bottom sand to surface but for a child the deep water was cruel. Gumball kicked and fought, unable to open his eyes in the salty, intruding hell embracing him.   
Embracing _them._ Gumball was held by his new friend, taking a greedy breath as merboy put their lips together. Snapping his eyes open at the feeling of his heart being pierced by an unfamiliar feeling of belonging he gasped and started coughing into the water. Nicole's hand burst through the bubbles to pick her sputtering son up.   
"Will you stop going here if we keep him?" Nicole asked barely above a whisper, afraid her voice might break into sobs.   
Gumball wordlessly nodded against her shoulder. Exhaustion kicked in, dragging the boy into a deep sleep. 

The next day had been full of fish fetching shenanigans. It wasn't until the Wattersons finally got the creature home they realized there was nowhere to keep him. Richard had the brilliant idea to make the bath tub his new residence. 

"Darling.. don't you think a mermaid- er, merboy, needs a little more space? And water circulation? And overall quality?" Nicole questioned but was shushed by the rest of the gang including a wide eyed, giggling merboy stretching out in the tub. 

Gumball slept on the bathroom floor that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> updates randomly, not edited but might be in the future


	3. The Bandaid Method

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darwin is in pain

Hours turned into days of the boys giggling and playing with boats, ducks and dinosaurs in the water. The fun could never end! Until Gumball ruffled his merboy's ginger hair to say goodbye - Monday had rolled around, meaning he needed to go back to kindergarten. Drying his feet on the towel on the floor he turned to leave. 

Overtaken by anxiety, feeling like the separation would shred his heart, the youngest clung to the kindergartener.  
"Hey- hey no fishboy what are you- shh don't cry-" Gumball struggled to comfort and free himself from his death grip. Nicole shouted from downstairs, a warning seeping through into her voice. Gasping he tried to run downstairs but only managed to pull his finned friend out of the water onto the floor.   
The wet smack of a fin against the bathroom tiles alerted his mother that something was off. Climbed the stairs as fast as her condition allowed her she entered, panting. The sight before her was paralyzing. She could only stare as her child sobbed grossly beside the merboy vomiting up litre after litre of saltwater.   
"Do fish drown on land?" Gumball choked with a pleading look at his mother. She didn't have the heart to answer. How could a mother break it to a toddler that their friend is dying?   
Answering proved unnecessary as the little mermaid went from vomiting to gagging to gasping from pain. Gasping meant breathing meant living.   
"Stay." He choked out, barely audible.   
Scrunching up her face in horrified disgust and shock at the scene Nicole mumbled that their dad was going to babysit before leaving the house for a breather. Simply knowing that family life would be rough hadn't prepared her for the struggles in the slightest. A busy office was going to feel like vacation.   
Gumball's crying caused the merboy to weep where he sat on the floor, still unused to the feeling of air in his lungs. He had never taken such a deep breath before. The oxygen tickled deep down, stinging his insides.   
"Why are you crying?" Gumball stuttered out after easing his sobbing.   
"Because you're crying," He sobbed back then continued "And it hurts! So much!" He squeaked, not used to the way air treated his vocal cords as opposed to the thick water.   
"I'll hold you," Gumball said and did, but not for long. "Wait wait wait you can talk?! Dad the fish boy talked!" He shouted, tears quickly forgotten as he bounced up and down, running between his parent and friend as if operating on another time frame.   
Richard who had taken the opportunity to nap startled awake and stumbled upstairs. Just as his five year old had stated the merboy was not only talking but crying as well.  
"I'm glad you're happy," accompanied a pained smile on the youngest's face. Unknown to the trio his suffering was far from over.  
The air and towel had started drying the merboy's tail, causing it to pale and itch. Richard was the first to notice, inspecting the flaking tail further. Knitting his brows together, he opened his mouth to make an announcement.  
"OH MY GOD DUDE YOUR BUTT!" screamed Gumball before his dad could get a word out.  
The merboy was panicking, Richard was highly offended by being cut off. Gumball was determined to not let his friend panic alone and joined in. After their dad's scolding monologue he joined in on the panicking, picking up a shed scale to put it back. Touching the now grey tail caused a big chunk of scales to come off which coaxed a high pitched screech from both the children, one of pain, the other of horror.  
He could not, would not, let his new friend suffer like this. A genius idea struck him. Without a warning Gumball grabbed a piece that was flaking and quickly ripped most of what remained off the tail.   
There were no words that could describe the pain. No way to convey it through actions. No way to truly process the feeling.   
At the lack of response Gumball explained timidly that mum says to rip off bandages fast or it hurts more. The sea creature face planted in a puddle of his own tears.


	4. Chapter 4

Something covered him, but it wasn't hugging his body like the familiar embrace of the sea. It felt silky, soft, light yet warm. The merboy sniffed, surprised by feeling air enter his nostrils rather than thick saltwater. What surprised him more was the soft smell of what he was later going to learn was laundry detergent that had replaced the smell of seaweed, life and trash he was used to. Curious, but not scared, he opened his eyes, remembering his new home as his gaze locked onto his newfound friend, a beaming little boy with cyan hair and cat ears that flicked back whenever water touched him. Right. The sea wasn't where he lived anymore.

"Oh thank god Nicole would rip us all in smaller shreds than your tail if you weren't okay!" The tall rabbit man made his presence known to the kid. "You seem to be alright though, right? Right?" Richard asked anxiously, eyes flicking to where the boy's tail should be. Speaking of which, it was covered by a white, fluffy comforter, dry as a desert. Strangely enough, he found it wasn't hurting him. The memories of the bathroom incident flooded his mind and he smacked a hand over his mouth to keep from screeching. Squinting anxiously at the sheets he began puling them off slowly, then turning his head away to scrunch up his eyes while throwing it all off.

Gumball was the first to react, gasping with eyes glittering in awe of what he saw. "You have magic legs.." he whispered softly. It was true. There on the sheets laid two long legs, rubbed raw and shockingly pale compared to the rest of the boy's sunkissed skin. The merboy gasped too at the sight. Never in his life had he been able to walk on land. It was, admittedly, a rather short life this far, but it was no less new or exciting. The stinging, itching pains had subsided and he dared to wiggle his webbed toes. 

"awesoooooooome~" cooed Gumball, bouncing up and down while flapping his hands.  Now they could finally run out to play together! Gumball attempted to drag him to his feet but Darwin shrieked, wobbled and fell only to be held upright by Richard and Gumball. Richard gave his son a sympathetic look, wondering how to say no and not be the bad cop. Maybe he should wait until their mother was home, bu that would be several hours.

"Listen, Gumball, maybe today isn't the right day for- for.. uh... your merfriend? What's his name anyway?" Richard questioned, only having called their new family member 'the merboy' up until now. It felt silly to continue now that the attention had been brought to the lack of a name. The merboy couldn't have answered even if he tried, merpeople's names didn't work the same way, it was sort of the attitude they spoke with rather than what they said, so he didn't even see why it was necessary to have a name. Gumball didn't agree with his merperson shenanigans though.

"I'm gonna call you.." The kid thought hard "Darwin!" 

Darwin smiled but Rchard did not. Elbowing his son he whispered too loudly "Isn't that what you have named every other pet that died?" to which Darwin replied "The what now?" and Gumball simply ignored them both. 

Collecting Darwin in his arms he tried to carry him. It didn't work. Gumball got another idea. Turning around he showed Darwin how to climb onto his back. "C'mon now, if you can't walk I'll give you a piggyback to show you the house! You live here now so you need to know where dad stores the candy!"

Darwin giggled and clung to his friend as Gumball ran away from their dad trying to stop them from raiding his secret snack box. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments make me really happy!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> first school day more like first school disaster

beep Beep BEEP BEEP!

The intrusive noise of their brand new alarm clock startled Darwin awake. In a panic he stood up, almost toppling his bowl over, ready to flee from whatever bloodthirsty predator was after him. There was nothing chasing him though. The alarm wasn't even meant to wake _him_ up, it was for his still snoozing brother who started school today. Darwin was excited for him, he always was, but right now he was feeling unusually sour. Why was Gumball going to go to school why Darwin was the one waking up on time? Why was Darwin going to be left home alone without anyone to keep him company or fight off the couch monster? It wasn't fair! It wasn't fair and he was going to stand up for himself!

Darwin regretted standing up for himself so much right now. After guilting his way into their mother's heart he had experienced the first horror. 

The school bus.

Gumball and Darwin had been terrified, holding hands to not be separated and wearily looked around at all the unfamiliar faces. A raincloud. A peanut. Two flashy blobs of hair. The driver coated in orange fur took a sharp turn causing Gumball to fall into the lap of a hotdog boy and let go of his brother's hand. Darwin was left alone on the floor and started hyperventilating. Get a seat or die. Luckily for him there was one empty seat left. Right when he was about to sit down a transparent girl with two pigtails materialized in his place. "What do you think you're doing? Can't you see I'm floating here?" she muttered bitterly. He could not but that didn't make it any les awkward. Stumbling over apologies and explanations he managed to convince her to share the seat. Now in safety he could reflect over what happened to Gumball. Was he safe? glancing over his shoulder he saw Gumball smile painfully as he was squished inbetween the equally uncomfortable hotdog boy and a mildly disgusted flower. This would forever be the longest bus rides of their lives. 

The second horror came soon after. 

First period with miss Simian. She picked their places and forced them to write their own name tags. If she thought they were too ugly she ripped them and you had to eat the shredded paper. Banana Joe, certified class clown from day one, got sent to the principals office for liking the taste of paper. Darin started to doubt wether miss knew how to read because she'd say everyone's names wrong. Terry made the mistake of pointing this out and had her mouth erased along with a grumbled threat to feed her to Joe. They quickly learnt learnt to stay quiet in class. 

Lunch break seemed like it'd be a break from the trauma.

But no.

"Gumball this is bad I wanna go home.. Can we go home?" Darwin pouted and nuzzled his big brother's shoulder. Despite everything he didn't regret going because Gumball needed to be protected from all this evil but it had definitely been the worst day of his life. Gumball who had just managed to comb his puffy hair down after the fright petted Darwin's comfortingly. "I don't know mum's phone number, sorry. But I agree, we hae to get out of here, dead or alive." 

This startled Darwin who took a hold of his shoulders. " _Not_ dead." 

Gumball chuckled awkwardly, "Alright alright, that would be unproductive, let's just walk out." He took the shorter boy's hand and they walked towards the entrance. It seemed easy, they just had to-

KRACK

A huge, scaley, clawed foot crushed them against the floor. "Aren't you coming to the cafeteria?" a young t-rex growled at them, running off roaring "dweebs!" back to them. A trip to the nurse's office wasted their lunchtime and they had to survive the afternoon on an empty stomach. 

Nicole said they had to go the next day too.  
It was going to be a tough week. 


	6. The Hallpass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gumball is getting them in and out of trouble in school

Trouble was Gumball's middle name and Darwin's was too long to for miss Simian to accept, sending him to the principal's office too. At least they were in this together. 

"For the last time- oh who am I kidding? It's never the last time with you boys- you can't use the hall passes to sneak into other classrooms!" Mr. Brown explained, exasperated. "And you can't get away by faking your names." 

"But-" Darwin was cut off by mr. Brown tsking him. 

"No buts, young man! I don't understand why this is still a problem for you. You'd think first graders would learn quickly but it's been a month and you still haven't adapted. I don't want to do this, but the next time I'm afraid you'll have to go to.. counselling." Brown was pained to even say these words. Hiring a new counselor had been on his todo list for a decade, but breaking the news would be harder than miss Simian's punches when she directs her temper tantrums at the walls. There was a reason the halls were decorated with fine art. 

Darwin muttered, trying to relax his face into a smile, or at least drop the frown and crease between his brows. Nicole used to clench and unclench her fists before she stopped yelling at them so he copied. Sighing, his shoulders dropped. 

"Fiiiiiiiiine!" Gumball threw his hands in the air. "But I named Darwin myself so you can shut the heck up about identity theft!" Brown choked on his coffee at the accusation of the accusation. "It's a good name, good bye!" Gumball was quick to drag his little brother out of the cramped office. 

Darwin, reluctantly dragged through the door opening, stared in awe. Gumball had dared to argue and leave without permission. His heart skipped a beat knowing it was for his sake Gumball had argued. 

KRACK

A scaled, clawed foot crushed a nearby bull girl, barely missing the duo. "Aren't you coming to the cafeteria?" Tina growled at them, running off roaring "dweebs!" as the daily routine went. It was about lunchtime so they locked eyes, shrugged and skipped along to get some lunch.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short chapter to start this mess up.


End file.
